The present invention provides a device which conveniently extracts material from a tube. The invention is especially intended to remove extrudable substances such as toothpaste, ointments, creams, and the like, from the tubes in which such materials are packaged.
Toothpaste tubes and the like present the perennial problem of how to extract the contents of the tube cleanly and evenly, and without unduly distorting the tube or wasting its contents. One known solution is to roll the tube gradually, by hand, as the contents are used. This solution, while an improvement over randomly squeezing the tube by hand, is inconvenient, and, unless the operation is performed flawlessly, will usually result in waste of some of the material in the tube.
It has therefore been proposed to provide a pair of rollers, disposed on either side of the tube, wherein the rollers bear upon the tube and cause its contents to move upward, towards the opening. This solution achieves essentially the same result as rolling the tube by hand, but it has the advantage that the rolling is more mechanized. However, a practical means of implementing a roller-based device has not been shown in the prior art. The roller devices proposed in the past are too mechanically complex to be manufactured inexpensively and used conveniently. They are not easily attached to, and removed from, the tube.
The present invention solves the problems described above, by providing a device which comprises a pair of rollers which fit around a tube of material, but which can easily be removed and re-attached to the tube. The latter feature enables the device to be used on one tube until the contents are spent, and then to be transferred quickly to a new tube. The extractor of the present invention can squeeze virtually any material from a tube, including toothpaste, medicines, ointments, creams, hair colorings, and other substances.